Obama administration aims to address lingering crisis issues

The Obama administration is expected to announce initiatives to address troubled assets at financial firms and a plan to bolster state programs that provide affordable mortgages to lower-income borrowers. Congress passed the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program nearly a year ago, but the effort underwent substantial changes, resulting in a program that has little to do with helping banks deal with troubled assets. The new plan would have private firms buy troubled assets from banks using a combination of public and private resources.